Thanks. You know when I started this campaign I said I wanted
to run this campaign like a fiscal conservative. I told my
campaign
manager to act like we were spending our own money. Well last
week
Kevin said, "Orrin, I don't know how to tell you this, but we are
spending
our own money." [laughs; laughter].

Well if anything happened on the way to the White House.

Last July I announced that I was a candidate for President of the
United
States. I entered the race because I believe our nation is at a
miracle
moment. We are prosperous; we're at peace.

The seeds for these fortuitous days were sown by Ronald Reagan in my
opinion. They were nurtured under a responsible Republican
Congress
that gave us an unprecedented budget surplus. They have now
blossomed,
giving us a unique moment in our history.

Today because of these accomplishments we have the opportunity to
finally
stop talking about, to just stop talking about the serious problems
challenging
our nation--problems with health care and education, with taxes, with
the
national defense and crime, with the dangers of terrorism and the
failures
of counterintelligence. We can just stop talking about it; we can
now start solving those problems, and we have to do it.

To seize this moment, the next president of the United States must
bring
to the White House integrity beyond reproach and the principles, ideals
and values that we so cherish in my own home state of Utah.

To seize this moment, the next president must bring to the
presidency
a commonsense conservative agenda, an agenda that can be accomplished
and
not abandoned after the election.

To seize this moment, the next president must have a proven record
of
success, of bringing people with diverse beliefs and attitudes together
to get things done. The next president must be a person who's
been
tested by the rigors and realities of public service and who knows what
it means to stand on principle and not to be swayed by the clamor of
Washington.

To seize this moment, the next president must understand the
judicial
selection process. The next president may very well appoint up to
half of the federal judiciary, or judges in this country and up to five
members of the Supreme Court, thereby determining whether our federal
judiciary
is governed by the rule of law or becomes a non-elected legislature,
immune
from recall or censure by the public. This in my opinion will be,
and will prove to be, the most important single issue of this next
election.

And, to seize this moment, the next president must understand that
we
will not realize the promise of our future unless we have the courage
to
repudiate the dangerous political legacy of our immediate past--the
destructive,
cynical philosophy of the Clinton-Gore administration that you can do
no
wrong if you can talk your way out of it. This is why I entered
the
race.

I also believe the American people want honesty in and about their
president.
I believe they are tired of campaigns dominated by vague promises and
slogans.
They want to hear how we intend to accomplish what we are promising to
do. I believe Americans want their candidates who speak their own
ideas, who avoid trafficking in slogans, sound bites and endless
repetition
of canned statements. They want to have a chance to vote for a
person
because of what he believes. They are tired of these
permanent
campaigns.

And I believe that Americans want a candidate who will address the
unspoken
sense of unease that is abroad in our land, a questioning, after the
Clinton
administration, whether those in politics have the same regard for
truth
and for the trust that unites us, for the simple, hearty virtues that
brought
us to where we are today.

America's economic success is not the real measure of its greatness
as you know; it is instead the principles, the values, the aspirations
that we share. These are the reasons that I decided to run.
These are the issues that I've tried to raise over the course of this
campaign.

I've campaigned hard, and the results were immediate. Within a
month of my announcement I moved to number nine; a few weeks later I
was
number eight; then I inched up to number seven; and then within a month
I was number six. Now some nitpickers may say that this was
because
Lamar, Dan, Liddy and Pat dropped out [laughter], but I kind of liked
the
trend. Unfortunately, the other candidates are not doing their
part
to keep this trend going [laughter].

The remaining Republican candidates are all good people, each one of
them. I'm really proud that I stood with them, and the ones who
went
before were really good, are really good people as well. I was
disappointed
when they had to drop out. I think each of them would be a
dramatic
improvement over the current occupant of the White House, as well as
those
running in the other party. They should be commended for their
courage,
their conviction and their self-sacrifice. And I hope they will
continue
to campaign with the objective of not diminishing one another, but
closing
the book on the Clinton-Gore presidency.

It is now clear that there will not be time to build sufficient
support
for my candidacy, therefore I am announcing today that I will no longer
seek the Republican nomination for president of the United States.

Now I leave this race with no regrets for having tried. I knew
that by getting in late, by raising money from small donors, by
refusing
public funds, that I was defying conventional wisdom, and the odds were
extremely long. I knew that I would be criticized. I knew
it
would be far more comfortable not to run. But the goal of public
life is service. In a democracy, each of us has an obligation to
step forward if we believe we can make a difference for the
better.
This is an obligation that I take seriously.

Our campaign, I think, has made a difference. We have forced
the
debate to address issues and concerns that would otherwise not have
been
discussed or would not be discussed in the future. I've also run
my campaign as I would govern, in a frugal, open and candid way.
And I believe that we've succeeded in injecting more substantial issues
into the national dialogue.

But like an army, a campaign travels on its stomach; it has to be
fed.
I could have kept going by taking a million dollars in federal matching
funds which we qualified for--relying on taxpayer subsdies--but I
didn't
think that would be the right thing to do under these circumstances.

Some say that in politics if you want a friend get a dog. Well
they are wrong. I can never thank enough the thousands and
thousands
of friends and supporters I have in Utah and around this nation who
have
had the courage to stand with me, who have helped me in so many
countless
ways. They come from every walk of life, from every conceivable
background,
from every political perspective. Yet we have one thing in
common--we
share a belief in the promise of this nation and a fervent conviction
that
the best days lie ahead. To these wonderful people let me just
simply
say this: God Bless You. I pray our friendship has brought you as
much joy and pride as it has brought to me.

And finally let me thank my family--my six children, my nineteen
grandchildren.
I have four of them behind me here today and--two children and my son's
wife. But above all let me thank the one person who has made this
possible, who has sacrificed so much, endured more than should ever
have
been expected and yet has expected so little in return and I want to
thank
you Elaine. You're great. [applause]. [hug].

Let me end by making one point clear. I will do all that I can
over the remainder of this campaign to make sure that the Republican
nominee,
whoever he may be, speaks to the issues I've raised, that he
articulates
not just a vision, but a plan of action. I promise to do
everything
within my power to make sure that the next president embodies our
faith,
that the key to America's future lies in its adherence to commonsense
and
to commonsense conservative principles that are the foundation of our
greatness,
and that the next president believes with all his heart that our real
problem,
our real problems, will be solved and that our real promise has yet to
be seen. [applause].

Now I'm prepared to take your questions, but in anticipation of your
first question let me answer it this way. [laughs].

I'm going to endorse, in fact I am endorsing this day, a man that I
think shows the greatest promise of all. And it's tough to do
because
all of my colleagues who have run have been good. We had the
first
legitimate women's candidate in history in my opinion, and I was sorry
to see her drop out. And the remaining five in the race are all
good
people. I feel deeply towards each and every one of
them.
I was proud of Alan Keyes doing as well as he did in this last Iowa
race.
It was good.

But let me just say this to you. I really believe that we have
to have the best person we possibly can have to run for president of
the
United States. Someone who basically has what it takes to do
it.
And so at this particular time I'm going to endorse Governor George
Bush
for president of the United States. I think it's the right thing
to do. Having watched everybody, having learned to love each of
these
people, respecting each of them. Look, I believe Governor Bush is
the one who can unite the party and bring back the White House to
us.
I think he has the ability to do that. And now that I am out I
think
Governor Bush is the only person who can get things done--cut marginal
tax rates so that w can keep this economy going, improve our schools.

And more importantly I think he can reach across partisan
lines.
Every day that I've been in this race I've watched him carefully.
And I have to say that the one quip I made I'm going to have to answer
for. But the fact of the matter is that I've seen a really fine
man
over these subsequent weeks. I thought he was fine before, and I
thought he'd make a good president. But I think with all of us
helping
he can make a historic president. I like the fact that he can
reach
across partisan lines. I think we've got to have that in this
party,
in this country and certainly in our party. We can't just take a
narrow agenda and just narrowly be for just a few people in this
country;
we've got to be for everybody and we've got to look for the good in
everybody.

Now I've worked with George Bush in the trenches for the past,
really
the past seven months, and I believe that he'd make a great president,
and I believe that it's a wonderful thing to have your confidence in
somebody
grow each and every day that you're on the road with them. And it
has grown. And I have to say that you know I would like to
endorse
all of them, but I do believe that George Bush is the one who will win;
he's the only one I think who will bring both parties together in doing
what's right for this country, and of course changing the
attitude
in Washington that sometimes we've seen over the last seven years so
far.